Jozi gangsters steal the show
August 29, 2008

By Theresa Smith

Director: Ralph Ziman

Cast: Rapulana Seiphemo, Ronnie Nyakale, Jeffrey Sekele,
Mlusi Skenjana, Jafta Mamabolo, Motlatsi Mahloko,
Shelley Meskin

Running Time: 118 minutes

Classification: 16LV

Rating: ***

Showing a Nigerian druglord being thrown out of a window may not do much for local xenophobic attitudes, but as gangster movies go, this film is two thumbs up for South Africa.

South African-born Ralph Ziman directs a local cast in this highly stylised take on life on the mean streets of Jozi. The high production value and excellent acting make it one of the better movies to come out of this country in a while.

It follows Soweto-born Lucky Kunene (Seiphemo) out of the 'kasi into downtown Joburg as he tries to avoid a life of crime.

This being a guy who read equal measures of Karl Marx and Dale Carnegie as a child, while hero-worshipping Al Capone, when he does eventually give in and steal, he steals big and targets buildings.

Loosely based on real events of gangsters taking over buildings in Hillbrow, the film puts the protagonist at odds with the other default prince of Hillbrow, the unctuous druglord Tony Ngu (Skenjana at his smarmy best). When our anti-hero insists that the pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers need to vacate his premises the scene is set for the inevitable shoot-out.

The film is bookended by a reporter's interview with Lucky, while the story is beautifully framed by time-lapsed shots of the Johannesburg skyline and cityscapes.

This is not the glossy city of Top Billing's segments on beautiful houses or even the soft-filtered look of Tsotsi.

This is Hillbrow in all its dingy, dilapidated glory, complete with the dregs of humanity eking out an existence where people legally aren't allowed to even congregate.

Other than Lucky and Nazareth (Lucky's ex-political exile turned gangster mentor, played with chillingly understated menace by Jeffrey Sekele) most of the characters aren't fleshed out very well.

While love interest Leah (Meskin) does spark a secondary plot, she and her family are never much more than stereotypes and detective Blakkie (yes, really) Swart doesn't get to do much more than bluster and posture.

As arch-nemesis go, Robert Hobbs has the acting ability to have turned this into a cat-and-mouse game, but this is really Lucky's story and Seiphemo is intense, but engaging, building sympathy for what is essentially the bad guy.

The two youngsters who play the teenage Lucky and Zakes - Jafta Mamabolo and Motlatsi Mahloko - steal their scenes with completely natural performances, oozing street smarts and charm in equal measure.

So what if the teenage boys' hijacking methods are way too successful for real life?

This is a movie and, small plot inconsistencies and a reliance on genre clichés aside, it works.

Not so subtly questioning the government's sloth-like approach to housing delivery in the form of a gangster movie and saying crime doesn't pay, while entertaining the masses on the side?

Not a mean feat at all.

Tonight - Movie Review - Jerusalema